With the nights now drawing in, and despite a miserable Sunday evening weather-wise, as well as another railway engineering works bus replacement service on my line, wild horses could not stop me attending this evening's tasty Blues offering in London, pairing the upcoming The Zac Schulze Gang with the tour de force that is Samantha Fish. A very wise decision as it turned out, as I most probably witnessed one of the gigs of the year, if not the gig of the year.

Indeed, this was my first visit to the very impressive Koko in Camden since its refurbishment, and understandably the place was rammed. And talking of first's, I finally caught up with tonight's special guests at Faversham's A New Day Festival a couple of months ago, and immediately saw what all the fuss was about. Fresh from also supporting Samantha on an American tour in July, Gillingham's finest entered the stage to the strain's of Nat King Cole's 'Orange Colored Sky'. And true to form it was a case of "Flash, bam, alakazam" as they kicked off with an energetic and very apt cover of Rory Gallagher's 'Laundromat', given the power trio had performed at Ballyshannon's Rory Fest in June.

The 2024 UK Blues Awards ‘Emerging Artist of the Year’ winner's then followed that up with their very own fast and loud new single, 'Woman', due out this Friday, that saw a cool bass solo from Ant Greenwell as well as a punchy vocal delivery from Zac, in between his loveable facial expressions. Amusingly dedicating Rufus Thomas's 'Walking The Dog' to the Mayor of Gillingham, Zac's pawsome ruff, apologies, awesome riff solo led us from Kent, right across the Thames to Canvey Island and an all action cover of Dr. Feelgood's 'She Does It Right', which they certainly did.

Taken from last year's album 'Made Of Three', red and white striped Mackem Ant then took over vocal duties on 'Hole In My Pocket', that had the venue jumpin' including Zac, which was followed by a short newbie, and another original, 'It Could Be Better Or It Could Be Worse'. One of their highlights for mine at A New Day, as it was similarly tonight, was their take on The Cinelli Brothers groovy 'Dry Spell', which had it all, with yet another outstanding bass solo by Greenwell, a drum solo from Zac's Beastie Brothers t-shirt wearing Bro Ben, plus the traditional chord numbers game from the flat capped ragamuffin guitarist that had to be seen to be believed.

"Are you feeling good?" Zac teased, before a penultimate rockin' Gallagher classic, 'A Million Miles Away', and then ending a very entertaining 45 minute set with an explosive cover of Mel London's 'Messin' With The Kid', that unexpectedly, but very welcomingly morphed into Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Oh, Well’. Brilliant musicianship, equally matched by their rambunctious stagecraft, deservedly earned them a legion of new fans this evening, as testified by the queue at their merch stand afterwards. D'you wanna be in Zac's gang? Oh yeah!

This being the third night of Samantha Fish's current ten-date UK 'Bulletproof' concert tour, tonight I reflected on our intrepid correspondent's Islington Assembly Hall review from well over four years ago, that this genre-bending powerhouse, was a better singer and better guitarist with better material than any other female Blues performer he could think of! Consequently, I thought is was high time that I witnessed this American phenomenon myself in the flesh at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in March 2021. Unfortunately, a worldwide pandemic had other ideas. Suffice to say that I finally caught up with Samantha at that very same venue nineteen months later, a performance that saw her walk away with our 2022 WRC Best International award!

Unfortunately I had missed last year's diluted Death Wish Blues UK Tour with Jesse Dayton, so I was duly standing down the front tonight with eager anticipation as the blonde bombshell promptly appeared out of the Koko darkness in her trademark black leather attire, looking all the superstar she is and should be. Backed up by Jamie Douglass - drums, Ron Johnson - bass and Mickey Finn - keys, Wayne Kramer was no doubt smiling down from above as the quartet smashed it with a storming cover of MC5's classic 'Kick Out The Jams'. Demanding "get your hands up!" to Douglass's pounding intro to the driving beat of 'Wild Heart', we then saw the first, and definitely not the last, extraordinary vocal and guitar solo of the night from Miss Fish.

In fact Samantha recently released a dynamic EP, 'Crowd Control', reimagining live takes of three fan favourites, one of which, 'Better Be Lonely', was originally featured on her 2021 chart-topping album, 'Faster', and tonight's alternative riff version certainly nailed her raw energy and magnetic stage presence to the mast. Changing her guitar (yet again), as well as paying tribute to Zac's gang at the same time, the flat capped Finn's intro on the title track of her 2019 album, 'Kill Or Be Kind', led to another sparkling vocal and slide guitar solo, with deserved woohoo's mid-segment from a captivated audience! It was then straight into the slower 'Watch It Die', another from 'Kill Or Be Kind', with Fish's to die for vocal, complemented by her explosive slide outro.

Time for another epic cover and Johnny Love & His Orchestra's 'Chills & Fever', that saw Samantha amusingly conducting a very impressive audience singalong, complemented by a neat keys solo from Mickey. The introduction of her cigar box guitar plus another pounding drum intro from Douglass, on the foot stomping 'Bulletproof', saw Fish very dangerously, given her skin tight black leather trousers, climb up on to Jamie's drum riser, and despite a malfunction with her guitar's sound, Samantha heroically carried on. "Let's hear you scream!", which we all did, on one of the many highlights of the set, as we happily clapped along!

"Got rid of that pesky guitar!" Fish joked, as she got her previous sound distortion problem off her chest with a wonderful vocal on 'Miles To Go', before finally pinning the blame on her amp and threatening, with a wicked smile, that "If I get fucked up again, I'm playing acoustic!" To be honest with a voice like that, who cared about her guitar, although a cover of The Cineemas 'Never Gonna Cry' saw normal service resumed with two amazing keys and guitar solos from Finn and Fish respectively.

Samantha's acapela intro to the Rock 'n' Roll of Ted Taylor's 'Somebody's Always Trying', manifested into a jaw dropping jam between Finn's Roland and Fish's guitar pedals. Incendiary stuff, as Samantha then moved to the edge of the stage, towering above us all with an intricate solo, twiddling her knobs, before performing a head banging solo, and then duly dropping to the floor. Absolutely amazing with some brilliant bouncy drumming from Douglass to boot.

Up next was "One to move to", namely R.L. Burnside's 'Poor Black Mattie' with its 'Spirit In The Sky' vibe, as Samantha posed the question, after yet another scintillating slide guitar solo, "Are you still with me London?" You bet we were as the quartet closed out the set with two barnstormers. Firstly, taken from 2019's 'Kill Or Be Kind', the slower but beautifully constructed and emotional 'Dream Girl', for mine, akin to Joe Bonamassa's classic 'Mountain Time', with a standing (I mean business) keys solo from Mickey, that showcased Samantha's awesome vocal range as well as her killer guitar solo.

Secondly, the epic title track from 2013's 'Black Wind Howlin'. With it's Hendrix vibe, Samantha was preaching to the converted as she duetted on this colossus at the front of stage with the Peaky Blinders, shades wearing Ron, in one incredible jam, fittingly ending with an absolutely stunning solo from Fish. This was simply off the charts. Phenomenal.

Indeed, despite the efforts of Samantha's roadie in front of us, we didn't really need any encouragement baying for an encore. Cue Jay Hawkins 'I Put A Spell On You', a recent release from Miss Fish, and tonight breathing new life into the iconic track, infusing it with her signature edge and raw emotion, as Samantha's intricate solo cast an apt spell on her audience with lots of appreciative cries of "Oh yeah!"

There was just time for one final cover, namely R. L. Burnside's 'Goin' Down South', as Samantha invited Zac on stage to join her for one final impressive jam. "Thank you London" Fish said as she departed the stage. No, thank you Samantha for a mesmerising evening! The Bulletproof tour still has four dates left at Leeds (tonight), Nottingham (tomorrow), Newcastle (12th) and Edinburgh (13th). Miss this ultimate Rock Chick at your peril!

AJ

Photos: Chris Griffiths (SF) and Dan Reddick (TZSG)